NASCAR dumps `aero package'

HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. — NASCAR's "aero package" rules, roundly blamed for massive wrecks at Daytona and Talladega this season, were dropped in a meeting of drivers and officials Thursday.

Drivers emerged satisfied.

"We can get the cars back to where we're in control of them, rather than their being in control of us," Dale Jarrett said.

The matter came to a head after a 16-car pileup on the last lap of the Oct. 21 EA Sports 500 at Talladega, Ala. Drivers stormed to the NASCAR trailer to say they wouldn't race under such conditions again, and officials promised changes on the spot.

The year-old aero package, used only at Daytona and Talladega, the two huge tracks where carburetor-restrictor plates also are required, was intended to stimulate close racing and more passing. It created a lot of aerodynamic drag on the cars and caused them to knock huge holes in the air, enhancing the effects of the draft.

But drivers complained that the racing had become too close for safety at the two superspeedways. They also pointed out that the draft made all 43 cars in a race field virtually equal, so driver ability and crew preparation no longer mattered.

"Sure, it was fun to watch," Jeff Burton said. "But when you have a wreck and the fifth-place car lands on top of the 29th-place car, that's unreasonable and you have to change it."

Thursday's meeting--a first between NASCAR and all of its Winston Cup drivers, owners and crew chiefs at once--was to work out details of the changes NASCAR had promised.

Beginning with February's Daytona 500, there'll be no more "roof blades." These strips across the fronts of rooftops were the major cause of the too-tight drafting effects.

In addition, the rear-spoiler angle will be reduced from 75 to 55 degrees and spoiler width will be 57 inches for all makes. NASCAR also is considering smaller front-end air dams.

The meeting at the sprawling Joe Gibbs Racing complex was characterized as "no holds barred" by NASCAR Vice President Jim Hunter.

"There were different opinions, that's for sure. But it was civilized," team owner Andy Petree said.

"At the end, when the question was asked, `Does anybody have a problem with what we're thinking about doing?' nobody raised a hand," Burton said.

"Nobody disagreed when they said the aero package is going to be taken away," Jarrett said.

The bad news for drivers is that because aerodynamic drag will be reduced, even smaller carburetor-restrictor plates will be required at Daytona and Talladega next year to help keep speeds below 200 m.p.h. Speed reduction has been the root cause of the confusion at the two tracks all along.

The Oct. 21 Talladega confrontation was the peak of tensions, which began with a 19-car pileup and another crash that killed seven-time champion Dale Earnhardt in the Daytona 500 on Feb. 18. Some drivers blamed the rules for putting Earnhardt in the situation that caused his wreck. Earnhardt had opposed the aero package.

Team owner Jack Roush, who has advocated tearing down the high banking-- 33 degrees at 2.66-mile Talladega and 29 degrees at 2.5 mile Daytona--pointed out, "We don't have that problem at Pocono or Indy [both 2.5-mile tracks], or California or Michigan [2 miles each], even without restrictor plates. And I think it's pretty obvious what the difference is."

But in the meeting, "It was definitely a closed issue to discuss things that could be done other than changing the cars," Roush said.

Daytona and Talladega are controlled by the France family, which also owns NASCAR.

"I don't think altering the race tracks is an option," Hunter said. "Daytona and Talladega have helped get NASCAR where it is today, with the kind of racing they do there."

Neither was there discussion of reducing engine size, another slowdown method.